Kobe Bryant is a Los Angeles Lakers’ icon, although not everyone within the franchise was convinced that he would be great.
On draft night in 1996, the Charlotte Hornets traded Kobe Bryant, then the 17-year-old 13th overall pick, to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for center Vlade Divac.
Divac would go on to be an All-Star for the Sacramento Kings and enjoyed a fairly successful NBA career, although Bryant became an all-time great, spending all 20 of his NBA seasons with the Lakers.
At the time of the trade, general manager Jerry West and head coach Del Harris thought they made an excellent move, although they didn’t know just how right they were. However, another shot-caller, head athletic trainer Gary Vitti, was not convinced.
Photo by Mike Powell/Getty ImagesVlade Divac was a real asset to the Lakers
Vitti started working for the Lakers in 1985 and helped shape the careers of James Worthy, Magic Johnson, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. For the Lakers’ runs during both “Showtime” and the Shaq and Kobe teams, Vitti was an important figure behind the scenes.
However, he was not the biggest fan of the Lakers giving up Divac for an unproven teenager.
“We traded Vlade Divac for Kobe. You understand that trade?” he recently asked. “I mean, he’s a legit seven-foot guy. I mean, huge hands. If he touched the ball, he owned it. Great footwork. Smart, you know.”
Before the trade, Divac averaged a solid 12.5 points and 8.7 rebounds for the Lakers, and he was one of the better defenders in the league.
“I love when he played defense on Shaq,” Vitti reflected. “When Shaq would get him in the post, he’d destroy him.”
In order to defend O’Neal, Divac invented a new tactic, flopping, and quickly endeared himself to Vitti.
“The only thing Vlade could do was invent the flop,” Vitti added. But do you know that he’s actually whispering in Shaq’s ear? So the first possession that Shaq would get in the post, right before the ball went into Shaq, he’d say, ‘You ready to get two quick fouls?’ Vlade played with his mind. Vlade was smart, man.”
Vitti would remain in Los Angeles throughout Bryant’s career, quickly realizing that he was wrong about the trade. While Divac was a solid player for most of his career, Bryant was a legend who helped add five more rings to Vitti’s collection.
Kobe didn’t make a great first impression with Vitti
While Bryant’s work ethic, even as a young man, stood out to West in particular, Vitti was worried that his stubbornness and unrelenting playstyle would contribute to injuries down the road.
In a way, he was right, although he would admit that Bryant was the toughest player to ever suit up for the Lakers, although in 1996, he wasn’t so sure.
“Giving away a legit seven-footer, which is hard to come by for a 17-year-old kid, who was stubborn? Kobe was stubborn!” Vitti recalled. “Kobe was one of those guys who had a lot of postural dysfunctional movement patterns because of the type of training and the amount of basketball that he played, and as hard as he trained.”
Of course, Bryant’s work ethic ended up prolonging his career and cementing his spot as an all-time great, although at the time, he was an unproven teenager, and the Lakers took a gamble.